10 questions with Conover Hunt
Fort's fate rests on her forte of preservation
Daily Press
247-4633
Jim Hodges
June 18, 2007

HAMPTON -- When she was a young girl, Conover Hunt watched Fort Monroe from
a distance, save for the occasional dance at the officers' club or wedding
reception.

"I remember the music, the pomp of the parades," she says.

And now, after a career in historic preservation, she's back home to work on
the post's future as interim executive director of the Fort Monroe Federal
Area Development Authority.

"That's the neat part," says Hunt, 61. "I never dreamed that I would have
the opportunity to bring my out-of-town expertise back to the hometown. I
view this as a privilege."

That expertise was gleaned at Dallas' Dealey Plaza, where she worked on
preservation of the Kennedy assassination site; in Philadelphia, where the
project was telling the story of the men who wrote the Declaration of
Independence and the Constitution; to New Orleans, to see what history
Hurricane Katrina spared; and most recently, in Richmond, where she helped
preserve history amid urban redevelopment.

Now she'll set up an office for an organization that has existed only a
month.

Q: Did this job come along at the right place at the right time in your
life?

A:

Definitely. I don't ask questions about why. A career is influenced by your
education, the mentors that you have, the values you're given in growing up
and in your community, hard work and a lot of luck. Timing is where the luck
comes in. I was not ready to retire. It's not in my nature to retire.

Q: How would you describe your job?

A: I am primarily an educator, a teacher. I take technical information and
translate it for lay audiences. I take objects from the past and help the
public read them on their own. I take environments and work - and this is
all done with others - and make them relevant to modern audiences. History
is not magic. It's just plain old business using very specialized personnel,
usually. Taking the public's input. Then we translate it into a workable
plan.

Q: Sometimes people get emotional about history...

A: As they should. There's nothing wrong with passion. ... These sites
should evoke passion and emotional responses with the public. They tie us
together in this weird, loose net thing called our civil religion.

Q: Civil religion?

A: Historians use that term. We are not a homogeneous culture that shares a
religion. Nor a single race. Nor a single subset of a race. We are the great
mixing bowl. We are a model on freedom of religion, the longest-lasting
elected republic. But the deal here is that we have a civil religion. The
flag. A lot of it is symbolism. Uncle Sam. The eagle. We have architectural
symbols.

Q: Can you translate that to Fort Monroe?

A: National sites have significance on multiple levels. The planners must be
extremely careful to embrace the levels of significance across the board, so
the public needs to be involved and the public needs to be asked: What makes
this site important to you? Preliminary planning done over the last two
years has identified a lot of things. Then you take a look in terms of the
Civil War, for instance. What specifically about the Civil War is unique or
different about the Fort Monroe area? Next: How does the Fort Monroe Civil
War story fit it in with existing or planned Civil War sites within our
region? How can we link them? How can the linkages make it easy for the
public to learn. And if you were an economist, make them stay on and leave
more money when they go.

Q: Can the historical preservationists - people who want Fort Monroe to
become a national park, for example - co-exist with people who want to make
money from the post?

A: In my review of previous planning, it has been very, very clear that the
goals have been designed with a lot of public input. Historic preservation
is No. 1, and the other two sort of co-exist, economic sustainability and
public access. All three of these are going to influence each other. When
you do a plan, you've got to meet all of your goals. ... You have to try to
get people to work together and to understand the process of why you ended
up making the compromises that you're going to have to make. Nobody cares
who owns it. Nobody cares who has title to it. The public already thinks
that they own it, and you know what? The public is right.

Q: While it certainly has a long history, outside of the contraband issue of
1861, there doesn't seem to be a "grab-you event" at Fort Monroe, does
there?

A: There doesn't have to be an event. I'll take prolonged activities. It's
not like peeling an onion. It's a tossed salad. Within all of the
ingredients of the salad, all of which have some relevance to American or
international audiences, planners have to hear from these groups and say,
'OK, on a scale of 1-20, with 20 having international significance, what's
the major ingredient of the salad? ... An onion is one story. This is a
salad.

Q: So what are the ingredients of this salad?

A: I personally think that the contraband story is significant, but it does
not exclude other stories. The architecture is significant. We have
engineering history there. And there is the resort history. We have literary
history. We have, of course, military history and strategic fortifications.
And you also have Hampton history. What has been the impact, the give and
take between that military installation and the community around it?

Q: You are the interim executive director. Do you want to be the permanent
director?

A: The plan is that there will be an independent executive search, and there
should be. The decision on hiring a permanent executive director will
require a super majority of the board. That's 14 people. ... I have been
advised by the leaders that I am welcome to apply for the position. ... I
have not submitted an application because that process has not advanced
enough yet.

Q: You've been offered an office at Fort Monroe. What's next?

A: I need to hire some staff, and I'm still learning my way around. I'm
still meeting the players. ... The office has to be painted. I'm looking for
donations of paint. I'm also looking for some people to come in and help me
set up offices and a reception and small meeting area. I want to get people
involved, and there are a lot of opportunities to get involved. We need
office furnishings. I've got a list, so e-mail me at conoverhun@aol.com.

Q: You worked with Dealey Plaza in Dallas. So where were you when John F.
Kennedy was assassinated in 1963?

A: I was leaving my last class at Hampton High School, walking toward my car
pool. I was a senior.

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